[Wayne Leap]

I believe my OS needs to be repaired, and I don't want to lose any of the data on the HD. I currently have Windows XP Media Center 2005 installed on my system and was going to run the Repair option. When I look at the existing partitions, there are two. One, Partition1 C:[Unkown] 229687MB <229686 MB Free> Which I don't know why that is, I have data on it. And Partition2 H:[Fat32] 8778MB <621 MB Free> but there is no R=Repair option for either partition.

Is there any way of repairing Windows without losing my data? Is there something special you have to do if the format is Fat32?

My computer won't boot and continues to restart, whether I chose safe mode or Last Known Good Configuration.

Thanks for the help!

Wayne

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How to run checkdisk from recovery console (Windows xp). (Courtesy dsenette)

• Insert the Windows XP startup disk into the floppy disk drive, or insert the Windows XP CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive, and then restart the computer.
  Note:Click to select any options that are required to start the computer from the CD-ROM drive if you are prompted to do so.
• When the "Welcome to Setup" screen appears, press R to start the Recovery Console.
  Note:If you have a dual-boot or multiple-boot computer, select the installation that you want to access from the Recovery Console.
• When you are prompted to do so, type the Administrator password. If the administrator password is blank, just press ENTER.
• At the Recovery Console command prompt, type the following then press Enter:
  

  chkdsk /r

• Allow this to run UNDISTURBED until completed (45 min or so)
• Report any errors

[dsenette]

How to run checkdisk from recovery console (Windows xp). (Courtesy dsenette)

• Insert the Windows XP startup disk into the floppy disk drive, or insert the Windows XP CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive, and then restart the computer.
  Note:Click to select any options that are required to start the computer from the CD-ROM drive if you are prompted to do so.
• When the "Welcome to Setup" screen appears, press R to start the Recovery Console.
  Note:If you have a dual-boot or multiple-boot computer, select the installation that you want to access from the Recovery Console.
• When you are prompted to do so, type the Administrator password. If the administrator password is blank, just press ENTER.
• At the Recovery Console command prompt, type the following then press Enter:
  

  chkdsk /r

• Allow this to run UNDISTURBED until completed (45 min or so)
• Report any errors

[Wayne Leap]

I ran the chkdsk /r in teh H:/I386 folder and it said it had fixed one or more errors. That is all it really gave me. I tried restarting and it got to the windows xp screen and restarted again.

[dsenette]

try running the windows repair again

Repair the Windows XP installation.

To do this, follow these steps:

• Make sure that the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive is the first priority startup device.
  See your computer documentation for information about how to do this.
• Insert the Windows XP CD into the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive, and then restart your computer.
• When the instruction to "Press any key to boot from CD" appears, press a key. Your computer starts from the Windows XP CD.
• When the computer starts from the CD, the system verifies your hardware, and then prompts you to select one of the following options:
  

  - To set up Windows XP now, press ENTER
  - To repair a Windows XP installation using Recovery Console, press R.
  - To quit Setup without installing Windows XP, press F3.

• Press ENTER.
• Press F8 to accept the Licensing Agreement.
• A box lists your current Windows XP installation, and then the computer prompts you to select one of the following options:
  

  - To repair the selected Windows XP installation, press R.
  - To continue installing a fresh copy of Windows XP without repairing, press ESC.

• Press R.

You'll get to keep your existing apps & settings, but you need to re-install SP2, Windows Updates & any unsigned drivers afterwards.
NOTE: Be aware that you'll lose any protection from Blaster / Sasser type worms. Don't go online without a firewall, whether the built in Windows one or 3rd party.

How to Perform A Re-Install Of XP.

[Wayne Leap]

Still no option for Repair.

[Wayne Leap]

Is there a option of installing media center on another HD then using this one as the secondary or backup and then just copying over the windows files? Or maybe backing up or cloning the current HD, then try to do a fresh install of windows and overwrite the C:\windows foldeR?

[dsenette]

you can just install windows on the same drive as the old one then we can get rid of the old corrupted version...
Parallel Installation of Windows XP

Boot to the Windows XP installation cd by pressing a key when the "Press any key to boot from cd" prompt appears at the top of the screen.

• At the "Welcome to Setup" screen, press Enter to set up Windows XP.
• Accept the License Agreement by pressing F8
• With your current installation selected in the box, press Esc
• Select C: Partition1 [NTFS] in the box and press Enter
• To continue setup using this partition, press C
• Now you should see formatting options...choose the last one, Leave the current file system intact (no changes), and press Enter
• To use a different folder, press Esc
• Name the folder WINDOWS0 (just type a 0 (zero)) and press Enter

The Windows installation should begin. This will install Windows to a new folder, leaving your data intact. Any programs installed on the old directory will have to be reinstalled to the new one. Device drivers will also have to be installed for all the hardware to work as it should.

The data will be located in the Documents and Settings folder (C:\Documents and Settings) under your old user account name...so when you set up the new installation, give yourself a slightly different user account name.

[Wayne Leap]

I took another hard drive with a valid installation of windows out of another computer and hooked it up to this one, disconnected the old hard drive and the computer still will not boot. It does the same thing as if the old hard drive were still connected.

Any thoughts on what else might cause this?

[dsenette]

XP will NOT boot when you do that...if you pull a hard drive from a machine with a different hardware profile and try to run it on a completely different system it won't boot